Admiral's Journal: July 20, 2010
Dear Faculty, Staff, Parents and Friends,
What a difference a day or, in this case, a different body of water makes! We transited the Straits of Gibraltar last night, and as we were leaving the Mediterranean behind us and entering the Atlantic, we could begin to feel the temperature and humidity drop. This morning, we were greeted with a clear, bright blue sky, a cool temperature and low humidity! Jackets and sweatshirts that had not been seen since May were back in sight again. And the sea, while not rough, is causing the ship to role and move about a bit, something that we haven’t felt for a while.
We are now off the coast of Portugal, heading north toward the Bay of Bisque off the coast of France. Friday, at around 9 a.m., we’ll enter the port of Brest, France, which is also the home of the French Navy. It will also be the last port of call for our two Summer Sea Terms.
By just about every measure, this has been a terrific summer at sea for SUNY Maritime College. We had a record 756 cadets aboard Empire State over the two terms and another 53 cadets out on Cadet Observer training on commercial ships all around the world. That’s a total of 816 cadets who went to sea over the summer!
And as I have mentioned in previous journal entries this summer, the quality of training has been superb. The knowledge transfer from our staff and faculty to our cadets is astonishing. The confidence level of the cadets on watch on the bridge and in the engine room is very high, and the quality of the work they are performing is superb.
There has been more work conducted throughout the ship this summer than I’ve ever seen before. Granted, the ship has been out longer with more students, but day for day, we have accomplished more repairs and painted more sections of the ship than we have in recent years. Staff and cadets have cut out rusted steel and welded in new sections throughout the ship, helping to extend her life. In other areas that needed painting, sections that had multiple layers of rust and paint were sanded to shiny, bare metal, then primed and sealed with a couple of fresh coats of paint. Brightwork has been stripped of old vanish, then sealed with several layers of new varnish to properly seal and protect the wood from the sun and rain. The result is that the areas being worked on look as good as I’m sure they looked when the ship was first built.
New components have been fabricated for various pieces of equipment that needed repair but for which there not the required parts aboard. This morning I observed a 2nd Class cadet making, from stock steel, a new housing for a very large filter. He had perfectly cut out two round steel plates, then fabricated and welded spacer brackets to one of the plates. With the filter securely in place between the plates, he had a new filter housing that was ready to be installed. Across the passageway, in the diesel lab, several cadets were rebuilding a diesel engine with parts from two engines that weren’t operational. The new rebuilt engine will go into one of our smaller motor whale or surf boats, making it operational for use during MUG Indoctrination later this summer to help provide the MUGS with some seamanship training. I can go on and on with examples of the maintenance and repair work that our cadets have been doing over the course of the summer, but needless to say, they are doing a very professional job and are learning a great deal as well!!
It is truly rewarding to see the transformation that is occurring out here. Yes, the Empire State is looking much younger than her 48 years, but the real transformation is in our cadets. For those of you who are their parents, you will see this when the ship returns. This is particularly true of the 1st Class cadets, who will have been out here for the entire 90 days.
Sincerely,
John Craine
John W. Craine, Jr.
President
